By Syma Sayyah, Tehran (www.symasayyah.com)
The cold wind keeps
coming and playing with the Tehran citizens; as soon as we turned all the
heating on and put on our woollies, we have had an outburst of a wonderful
Indian summer which was short-lived but much appreciated as the air is clean and
sky is bright and life, despite the notorious Tehran traffic, becomes a little
more bearable; and we can even get a glimpse of my beloved Mount Damavand!
But I think that
now winter is here to stay and I for one dread the cold weather ahead and at
times I ask myself what more I could wear when the ice and snow come along! I
guess we shall survive this winter despite the fear in our hearts.
Life has been as
busy as ever, the girls from my office, Banafshe and Hedieh and I took part in a
charity bazaar in aid of the
HAMI School for Afghani kids. Many of our friends and family as well as
many others came and made this event for such a good cause worthy and enjoyable.
Maryam was the
project manager and did a great job even though it was her first bazaar. She
received help from many others including Nahid Ashrafi, the head of HAMI. But
Ali and the coffee and cake corner made the event even more enjoyable; and many
came and sat in the space provided to sip their delicious coffee and chat with
friends while listening to live gentle music played on the keyboard, while their
children had their faces painted. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed it, even
though we were all dead when we got back home.
I also visited two
very good shows this month. The first was at the Golestan Gallery (42
Kamasaie St, Darrous, Tehran Tel. 22541589) where we enjoyed some colourful
statues, the work of Ms. Delbar Shahbaz, a talented young lady doctor who has
left medicine for art. I found the statues funny and interesting. Life can be
too tedious, and I thought Ms. Shahbaz has found an expressive way to make the
heaviness of life a little more bearable, and making what is there more
endurable.
Delbar Shahbaz
The Golestan
Gallery is one of the leading galleries in Tehran sponsoring and encouraging
new young talent, and its owner Mrs Lili Golestan (one of the leading Iranian
new art supporters and promoters for the past twenty years) has enormously
helped artists become well known and excel in their chosen fields. I have a few
samples of Ms Shahbaz's work for you to see.
works of Delbar Shahbaz
The other show was
by the talented veteran
Mr. Kambiz Derambakhash at the Haft Samar Gallery (25, 5th
St., Kooh-e-Nour Street, Motahari Ave. Tehran Tel. 88731403). Mr.
Derambakhash's wit makes his simple but powerful drawings always enjoyable and
thought provoking. Almost all the works were sold out on the opening night, but
I was lucky enough to get one of my favourites as a birthday gift from my
friends Ali and Touraj who kindly joined me on that visit in the absence of my
husband.
works of Kambiz Derambakhsh
I also attended an
art show at the Belgian ambassador's residence which was organized by my friend
Fery Malek Madani from Brussels and Ms. Javaheri and Ms. Eghbal from Mahe
Mehr Gallery (7, Nilofar St, Africa Boulevard, Tehran) where many examples
of new Iranian art were presented.
All your places were empty and I am sure December will be even more interesting;
and here are some mixed photos from these events.
... Payvand News - 12/06/09 ... --
